Refractions
Fartein VALEN (1887-1952)
Ave Maria Op.4 (1915-21) [5:26]*
Hvad est du dog skiøn Op. 12 (1930) [3:07]
Kom regn fra det høie Op. 25 (1936-37) [3:28]**
Der 121. Psalm (1911) [12:40]*
Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992)
Cinq rechants (1948) [18:56]
O sacrum convivium (1937) [5:14]
Anton von WEBERN (1883-1945)
Entfliehet auf leichten Kähnen Op. 2 (1908) [2:43]
Zwei Lieder Op. 19 (1925-26) [2:03]**
Alban BERG (1885-1935)
Die Nachtigall (1907) [2:40]
Berit Norbakken Solset (soprano), Norwegian Radio Orchestra*
Members of the Oslo Sinfonietta**
The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir/Grete Pedersen
rec. November 2011, Ris kirke, Oslo, Norway
BIS BIS-SACD-1970 [57:44]
Who knew? This is a programme full of discovery and quiet marvels.
Who knew that Fartein Valen had written such exquisite jewels as his Ave
Maria, or that Messiaen could swing like Thelonious Monk in his Cinq
rechants?
Even a huge Messiaen fan like myself might not have thought 20
minutes of a capella singing from the master might be much fun, but
Cinq rechants is full of remarkable stuff. In the booklet notes
Arnulf Christian Mattes mentions Clytus Gottwald’s suggestion that it
“served as a model for the new vocal music of the post-war
period” and with plenty of evidence for this I would be the last to
deny it. Some of the unison writing is stunningly rhythmic and the intervals
are uncompromisingly non-idiomatic for the voice, but the choristers here
leap over its demands with apparent ease. What is noticeable is how much
bluesy close-harmony writing crops up, as well as moments which have taken
on quasi-cheesy associations now, though they would have been remarkably
innovative for their time. This is a remarkable performance which had me
engrossed and wanting to play it again and again. By way of comparison I had
a quick listen to the SWR Stuttgart Vokalensemble (see review), and while this is very good I do hear a greater sense of
drive, earthy character and emotional conviction in The Norwegian
Soloists’ Choir.
Webern’s Entfliehet auf leichten Kähnen is a
little jewel, and was his only a capella work. It seems to inhabit a
world somewhere in between the tonal ambiguities of extreme late romanticism
and the bolder 12-tone serialism of his later instrumental works. This idiom
is heard in his Zwei Lieder Op. 19 which, with its guitar and
metallic percussion seems to invite the association of a cubist painting by
Braque or Picasso come to life. You might at first think these pieces are
alien and strange, but read the texts and you find the imagery is conjured
with remarkable observation by Webern. “When the sheep leave the
meadow…” writes Goethe, and Webern’s playful clarinet and
violin have already set a sun-dappled pastoral scene.
Fartein Valen’s a capella pieces are not quite as
toothsome as that opening Ave Maria, but here again, if you follow
the texts printed in the booklet you can find yourself within the
composer’s expressive response to the words. Remarkable polyphony
demands mental agility of the listener in Kom regn fra det høie
Op. 25, but there’s a solo instrument in there helping us follow
significant lines. It’s a strange effect, as if one of the singers had
a sore throat but was contractually obliged to join in so ended up playing
their clarinet.
Alban Berg inhabits an entirely different harmonic world, and his
Die Nachtigall from Sieben frühe Lieder, arranged for
choir by Clytus Gottwald, is like being conveyed on high on a heavenly
escalator by comparison with Valen. This transformation of idiom prepares us
nicely for the first recording of Fartein Valen’s Psalm 121 in
its original full-fat orchestral version. The booklet notes tell us that
this was Valen’s “first attempt to break through the
‘Brahmsian haze’ typical of the time”, but Brahms is the
first composer who springs to mind when you hear this piece, and the
“independent exploration of the expressive outer limits of tonal
harmony” are relatively hard to spot. Brahms with some of
Mahler’s weight of expression might be one way of summing this work
up, but it stands on its own feet as a musical statement, with plenty of
gorgeous moments and indeed some remarkable and unexpected harmonic
progressions.
The programme finishes with Messiaen’s beautifully devotional
O sacrum convivium, which after the turmoil of the previous work acts
like a final lullaby. These performances are uniformly excellent and the
recording is superb. The production is let down only once as far as I could
tell, with some ‘cute’ edits at the 12 and 31 seconds mark in
the beginning of track three in Messiaen’s Cinq rechants
leading me to fear I had swallowed a tab of LSD rather than an M&M for a
moment. I suspect few classical music collectors will have much Fartein
Valen in their collections, and the two pieces with orchestra on this disc
are remarkable discoveries. Such a disc of relatively rarely heard vocal
works may seem to be a bit daunting, but I would urge anyone to give it a
try. From the first entry of Berit Norbakken Solset’s solo in the
Ave Maria I was hooked, and I hope you will be too.
Dominy Clements
Hooked from the first.
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